I was kind of thinking the same thing, seeing them all standing in the back. I was like: when are they going to be involved in this episode? But then it started to get a little better when talking about their choice of side they took.But I was a little surprised with this episode, it started great with the old member introductions, but the 800th episode anniversary practically ended there...

The 4th year special didn't have staff involved so I'm hoping the same this year. Actually, I wouldn't mind the format as last year with Acchi Muite Pie as it's a great memory and reference to Zumi.

I've just been watching the 'Ekiden for Peace', (managed to get a 1080p version of it, 3.29GB for less than an hour of video ), and wondering if anyone knows the reasons for the choices of who would do the run. I would have expected it to have been the top 5 but it wasn't.

I can't quite recall who actually ran the top 5, and who actually got chosen, but they did choose members that relatively ranked at the top rather than at the bottom. So those who got picked that necessarily didn't run in top 5, who knows, maybe it was reallly up to that old man's decision, or the staff intervened in some way. Sakai gave up her spot to Morita due to illness, could that have been scripted to make things more dramatic? Who knows, I really can't say one way or another.

What I'm certain is that Kikuchi intentionally ran slowest not to get chosen, LOL.

Here's a pic of the times which they gotThe ones chosen to run were Fonchi, Umeko, Sakacchi, Asahi and Kaorun with Suu-chan in reserve it looks like. The actual top 5 were Umeko, Suu-chan, Ton-chan, Sakacchi and Asahi. Kaorun was actually 9th and Fonchi 10th.I wouldn't be surprised with Amimi, it is the sort of thing she would do.

I'm going to see if I can shrink the file at some point and upload it to media fire for those who want it.

For #800. Yeah, they could've thought of something more memorable.It became kinda slow after the nice member intro. And since it took 5mins for the challenge in the end if they sped it up, they could've did 3 challenges after the staff intro. but didn't do that either.

Personally speaking I'm quite fine with episode 800 and 801 for a few reasons

a ) The staff is personally aware about the weird thing that they are doing from the very beginning when they said "Don't worry we're going to do it all nice and proper for the 5th anniversary later" Which makes me guess the 5th anniversary might be getting a whole load of attention.

b ) The girls seems to be enjoying it. Plus it was a good opportunity to sit back and relax a bit, their schedule this year has been quite a monster compared to the year before this.

c ) I personally belief that all these Idoling!!! x Staff relationship is really good and important. They keep hammering humility to these girls by constantly reminding them of how important are the staff and I think it has somewhat formed Idoling!!! into what they are now, IMO one of the most humble Idol group out there.

Maybe it is an opportunity missed, but it seems to be geared towards the 5th year anniversary. So if they screw that one up then these 2 episodes are screwed up episodes

What do you guys think about the quiz OO?

I think it got pretty well right after Masuno is being excluded. The questions are pretty good too, I'm pretty interested when they asked about Hii-chan's sharp tongue pretty bluntly like that. Most probably this is going to be a good set of segment to learn about members from now on.

The Snow White, was probably a bit too easy to guess. Maybe should go for a more obscure story later, then it'll be all messed up.

can someone explain me about the ranking in "Idoling!!! 2012 Good Luck Ranking SP"? is that about hand palms reading or top favoritism ranking?

It is actually about palm reading. Apparently the lines in your palm change over time, and thus the reading of your palm changes as well. So the better your lines are, the better your luck will be.The guy is quite a celebrity and goes on many shows to do his palm reading.

LOL @ that episode At first i was pretty sure that the whole 10 minutes of that 'off air takes' in the beginning is just your usual scripted japanese TV show. That is until i spotted these in my second viewing WTF Sakacchi got a head massage from Manami using her boobs You get to see Yuuna doing self boob check also Maaannn seriously, these are some of the reasons you gotta love those Japanese shows

LOL @ that episode At first i was pretty sure that the whole 10 minutes of that 'off air takes' in the beginning is just your usual scripted japanese TV show. That is until i spotted these in my second viewing WTF Sakacchi got a head massage from Manami using her boobs You get to see Yuuna doing self boob check also Maaannn seriously, these are some of the reasons you gotta love those Japanese shows

Don't forget the "scratch" incident by Hiichan (also teased by guest) and "weird faces" by Aichan . Interesting part of the episode. by the way 1-year gen really showed their mature by not acted ridiculously.

That is one of the strangest/most intense idol show episodes I have ever seen. I honestly couldn't tell to what extent they were serious (Asahi/Okawa).

I don't like seeing the girls cry, but it was cool to see Ojima to stand there and smile all the way through the episode She is the big winner for me in this ep.

For the final match, I did some super slow replays and it really is super close. If I had to decide I would've given it to Ojima. For the re-match, Fonchi had a false start leaving Ojima powerless. But ok, whatever, it's all for fun? lol. Even so, I think this episode is pushing it a bit. I mean, some intergroup rivalry can be a lot of fun, but I think they took it too far. I know they do these gen vs gen battles a lot, but I can't recall it ever being like this.

Btw, Asahi did have a good chance of winning. It's all in her mind. She was so shaken up after the first loss, that there was no way she could've won the second one. Perhaps if the order of the matches would've different, she would've had more time to get herself together. [/over-analyzing] lol

That is one of the strangest/most intense idol show episodes I have ever seen. I honestly couldn't tell to what extent they were serious (Asahi/Okawa).

I don't like seeing the girls cry, but it was cool to see Ojima to stand there and smile all the way through the episode She is the big winner for me in this ep.

For the final match, I did some super slow replays and it really is super close. If I had to decide I would've given it to Ojima. For the re-match, Fonchi had a false start leaving Ojima powerless. But ok, whatever, it's all for fun? lol. Even so, I think this episode is pushing it a bit. I mean, some intergroup rivalry can be a lot of fun, but I think they took it too far. I know they do these gen vs gen battles a lot, but I can't recall it ever being like this.

Btw, Asahi did have a good chance of winning. It's all in her mind. She was so shaken up after the first loss, that there was no way she could've won the second one. Perhaps if the order of the matches would've different, she would've had more time to get herself together. [/over-analyzing] lol

#648 was used as part of the 2hour specials on the normal national broadcast of FujiTV and since there were many other segments that they want to fit in the 2hours special (Idoling meeting with Terry Itou, famous comedian, this crazy sumo and something else) only a digest of the episode was broadcasted during the 2hr special.

My guess is that, the girls knew what was on the line. Unless there's something worth keeping, their scene will be cut. Between Asahi's hatred to losing and Ookawa's fighting spirit, I think #648 is done in good sport. The opening trash talk was definitely epic and Ookawa's Osaka accent just made her sounded more angry than usual. All in all, the whole scene was used in the 2hr special. Asahi once complained that her grandmother was sad that she did not manage to appear much on Nikki, which is why she is always doing her best during games like this. Same goes to Hii-chan too Since not everyone owns the cable channel for FujiTV to watch the CS broadcast or the On Demand account to watch the extra scene, the national broadcast show are much more valuable to the girls.

It is even a running joke for Ookawa and Asahi now, "Cry = national broadcast"

Asahi definitely could've won the game if she was not so shaken. She got the skill but I think she realized the trick to the throw quite late. She was hip tossing Ojima and Ookawa towards the end beautifully. She is even scolded at home for losing sumo then her mother taught her the proper technique for her to try for the next event. The whole family has got some really awesome fighting spirit.

Umeko gets beaten up by Masuno pretty bad in the 3D Sumo Series I guess right now, she is the only Idoling!!! member that Masuno is really comfortable of playing around with. Sometimes it feels like 1st get all over again looking at those 2.